//------------------------------// // End of the Line // Story: My Little Caboose: Blue is Magic! // by DarkWing //------------------------------// "Please Rarity, we need some ribbon for the finish line." Sweetie Belle pouted as she chased after her sister. "I'm sorry, Sweetie. I simply don't have the time to help you look for some. I'm waiting for something to arrive." Rarity sighed, trying to push her sister away while she waited by the door. "Well where is Simmons? I'll get him to help." "Well when he saw..." Rarity trailed off and stared at Sigma. "...you three, he sort of - oh, how should I put this? - locked himself in the dressing room." "On it!" Apple Bloom said, running towards the small changing rooms. "Simmons, do you know where there are any cheap ribbons or something?" "Try the drawer next to the stairs, second from the top." Simmons squeaked. Apple Bloom nodded at Sweetie Belle and Rarity's sister ran towards the stairs, reached into the container and pulled out a milky lavender ribbon. She tugged on it lightly and it almost tore in half. Satisfied that it would break when one of them crossed it, she grinned at Apple Bloom. "Thanks for th' help, Simmons!" "No problem." Simmons said quickly. "C'mon, we need to get there before they do." Apple Bloom said as she ran out the door with the ribbon carrying Sweetie Belle and the calculating Sigma. At the edge of town, Scootaloo and Theta were neck and neck, rarely getting ahead of each other. Ponies in the town turned to see the pair coming at them full speed, so they quickly got out of the way, not wanting to be knocked over by the reckless small ones. "Think the way they're moving means we're going a bit too fast?" Theta asked curiously, now worried about crashing now that there were multiple things he could crash into at any given second. "What's wrong, are you saying you're scared?" Scootaloo chortled. "No! Well, kind of..." "Heh, so am I." Scootaloo smirked nervously. "We going to stop?" Theta asked, narrowly dodging a stand full of pears. "Heck no." Scootaloo snorted, trying to kick harder. "Darn, there goes an easy win..." Scootaloo shook her head playfully and looked into the town to make sure she didn't hit anybody, focusing on her next target which could be seen over the roofs and stalls. She grabbed onto one of the corner poles that held up a stall and used it to make a sharp turn around the corner. Theta glanced up and copied her, and was soon by her side again as they tore through the streets. "Oh no, my conveniently placed ramp store just happened to fall down at this exact time!" A stallion said worriedly. "Oh dear, I certainly hope nopony rides over it on a small recreational vehicle." The mare next to him gasped. As she said that, Scootaloo and Theta saw the ramp and they headed straight towards it. Scootaloo kicked off the edge of the ramp, much to the dismay of the pair of salesponies, and Theta spun his board counter-clockwise while it was in the air. They both landed perfectly on the ground and were now within throwing distance of the Carousel Boutique. "That was awfully convenient." Scootaloo said quietly. "Yeah, I was going to say..." Theta agreed as he looked back at the pair of grown ups. "You just had to jinx it." The stallion muttered as he began putting everything back in place. "Honey, I'm sorry..." The mare said, trying to help clean up the pile of ramps on the ground. "I know, dear... I know..." Theta and Scootaloo shrugged at each other and continued towards the boutique, where they could see Rarity standing out front with Simmons. "Hey, Rarity!" Scootaloo said as she zipped by, but not slowing to give a chance for them to return the greeting. "Hey Simmons!" "Hi!" Theta piped, then squinted ahead, seeing a gingerbread looking house just a short distance away. "Is that the next spot?" "Yup." "If only that was our last stop." Theta sighed with disappointment. "Why's that?" "I'm kind of hungry." Theta whined jokingly. "Same. Hey, how about loser buys the winner lunch?" "I don't have any money..." "Neither do I." Scootaloo snickered as they passed in front of it. "Y'know, I kinda wonder where Pinkie is. Haven't seen her around town in a while..." Theta simply shrugged and began looking around for the last location. He then looked at Scootaloo and she simply nodded forwards, temporarily forgetting about the competition and telling him to keep going. Within the next few minutes they both tore through an alley and the large tree was in sight, and by it was four figures. "There they are!" Apple Bloom whooped happily, grabbing her end of the ribbon to hold it up. "I wonder who's going to win." Sweetie Belle pondered out loud, mimicking Apple Bloom. "I could argue that I won." Rainbow Dash mumbled defiantly, but with a small smile on her face. "Not really." Sigma said straightly. "Both of them started at the beginning, you came in at the third of six locations. Hardly arguable." "Whatever." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, no longer caring. She shook her head and began flying just a few feet off the ground and put her hooves over her mouth. "C'mon Scoots, you can do it! Show that punk that pegasi are the best!" "Hey!" The two other Crusaders whined, dropping the ribbon to the ground just to pick it back up again. "Heh, sorry." Rainbow Dash said innocently, hiding her front hooves behind her sheepishly. "I'm going to win!" Theta panted, almost reaching his physical limit. "Nuh-uh." "I totally am!" "Double nuh-uh!" "You better take that back!" Theta growled and began trying to use his magic to spin his wheels faster. Scootaloo gasped and began to sporadically flap her wings, trying to push he forward to keep up. Just as the two reached the front of the library the front door swung open, painfully stopping Scootaloo and Theta in their tracks. The two fillies gasped and dropped the ribbon. Sigma began to go check on Theta and Scootaloo with the girls, but stopped when he saw a pair of pegasi walk out the door. The two fillies looked at Sigma and noted his curiosity, but shrugged it off to check on the two groaning piles of mush. "Oh dear, are you two alright?" Twilight gasped, running out of her library to help them. "No, I'm Theta." Theta gurgled from the ground. He shook his head and began rubbing the area between his horn and his eyes. "Er, yeah, I am. You okay Scootaloo?" "I think so." Scootaloo said quietly. "So who won?" "I think the door did." Theta mumbled, and tilted his head when he saw the two strange pegasi standing over him. "Who are they?" Rainbow Dash asked. "It's Eta and Iota, I'll tell you how later." Twilight replied, pulling Rainbow Dash to the side. She then brought a small package over using her magic and gently placed it in front of Rainbow Dash. "Can you bring this to Rarity? I promised she could have the few thousand year old clothing they wore when we brought them back." "Why were they wearing old clothes?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously, then grabbed the package with her teeth and threw it on her back. "Nevermind, if it's anything like one of Tucker's stories I'd regret asking." Rainbow Dash chuckled, only stopping by the defeated pair to say a few words out there. "Nice race, guys." "But neither of us won." Scootaloo said, glancing at the finish line that was but a few feet away. "Yeah, but it looked like it was going to be a tie anyways. Well, unless I counted of course, which I think I totally did by the way." Rainbow Dash boasted and coughed when Twilight gave her a serious look. "But hey, you guys had fun, right?" "Yeah. Yeah, I did." Scootaloo nodded slowly, then held out her hoof to Theta. "Good going, Theta. Maybe we can finish this later?" "Sounds fun." Theta said, shaking her hoof, then looked at the object that stopped them. "So does this mean we have to buy the door lunch?"